UFC on FX 7's Sarafian relaxed under pressure of official debut vs. Dollaway

SAO PAULO – It seems odd to call Daniel Sarafian a newcomer. After all, he’s been with the UFC for the better part of a year.

Sarafian reached the middleweight finals of the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.” But the week before the fight, he had to pull out with an injury. Sergio Moraes, whom he had knocked out in the semifinals on the show, took his place and went on to lose a unanimous decision to Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira.

That was in June, and Sarafian has been waiting since then to make his official UFC debut after going 3-0 on the reality series.

On Saturday, Sarafian (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) meets C.B. Dollaway (12-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) in the co-main event of UFC on FX 7, which takes place at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo in Sarafian’s native Brazil. The fight airs on FX following prelims on FUEL TV and Facebook.

But the long layoff has helped Sarafian look at the big picture and not get too keyed up over the biggest fight of his career. It’s the same mentality he took when he was injured and knew his shot at becoming “The Ultimate Fighter” was out the window.

“Right at the first moment, it was was pretty shocking and got me depressed,” Sarafian on Wednesday told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) through a translator. “That lasted only a brief while because after that, I focused and realized I don’t have only one fight ahead. I have a career ahead. The most important thing was to focus on that and keep developing my career, and I couldn’t let that frustration add up. So I’d say right now, I’m having my opportunity. I prepared for it, and I plan on having a long career ahead of me.”

Sarafian brings a four-fight win streak into the bout with Dollaway, not counting his three victories on “TUF: Brazil.” Dollaway in May got back in the win column after a two-fight skid when he beat Jason “Mayhem” Miller at UFC 146.

Critics of Brazilians’ stereotypical flaw when it comes to facing wrestlers would argue he’s in for a rude awakening against Dollaway, who was an All-American at Arizona State.

But Sarafian said he’s prepared for that.

“I respect C.B. Dollaway – he’s a very good wrestler,” he said. “But I’m going to fight mixed martial arts, so it doesn’t really matter. I prepared for a very tough fighter. He’s likely the toughest opponent I’ve ever faced. But that’s what we’re here for. I’m prepared for his takedowns – I’m prepared for everything. And I’m sure he’s preparing likewise, because this is mixed martial arts and it doesn’t matter how good a wrestler or anything you are. You’ve got to fight MMA.”

The lights aren’t shining as brightly on Sarafian as they might shine with other first-time UFC fighters. And that’s because, he said, he treated UFC 147 this past June in Belo Horizonte nearly the same way he’d have treated it had he been able to remain on the card against Ferreira.

That has helped him keep calm and keep focused this week in the wake of plenty of media attention for his debut.

“It’s been a great experience so far – a lot of fun,” Sarafian said. “But to be honest with you, I don’t focus too much on the fun part and all of that. What matters is the fight, and that’s what I try to focus on. I couldn’t take part in UFC 147, but I lived that experience because I went there, I experienced backstage, I experienced the support from the fans. So in a sense, this doesn’t bring me a sense of euphoria because it’s something I kind of experienced before. I’m able, now, to do this in a more natural way.”

With such a long layoff, it might be tempting for Sarafian to want to start racking up UFC fights left and right to make up for lost time. But the 30-year-old, who was born in Sao Paulo and now gets to fight there, said he’s got business at hand on Saturday night.

After he fights Dollaway, then he’ll start thinking about the type of fight he wants next, and just when that might be.

“I have a long year ahead,” Sarafian said. “I trust the UFC will make the best decisions on whatever is best for me down the road. I can’t focus on other opponents or anything like that right now. I’m only focused on C.B. Dollaway, which is the most important thing. It’s a long year, so I think I’ll train and be able to at least do three fights this year. But I can’t focus on the long run right now. I’ve got to take care of C.B. Dollaway. He’s a very tough guy. After that, we’ll see.”

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